Top 10 finishes on an excellent Friday for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 riders put both into Q2.

Alvaro Carpe and Brian Uriarte started the 2026 season in style in Thailand, with two fruitful sessions and places in Q2 confirmed thanks to second and tenth positions, respectively. In FP1, Carpe had been fourth and Uriarte eighteenth in their first encounter with the Chang International Circuit.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 team faced that first session in very hot conditions: 28°C ambient temperature and 75% humidity. With some caution required due to the previous afternoon’s heavy rain in Buriram, the Moto3 grid took to the track to kick off the 2026 season on Friday morning.

Carpe went out alone, focused on work to develop his race pace. After his first runout, the Spaniard briefly held eighth position, before returning to the pits to work with his team and prepare for the final part of the session. On his second stint, he took the top spot on his first flying lap. With a final best time of 1:41.733, after 16 laps completed, he finished fourth in FP1 and had a very positive feeling. Uriarte took the first few laps calmly to try and learn the Buriram circuit. Following a very positive first outing, in which he was just one second off the fastest time and inside the Top 20, he came back into the garage to modify his setup. Then he continued to improve his time, eventually lowering it to 1:42.601 after 17 laps.

For the afternoon Practice, temperatures rose to 32ºC, making it an even hotter prospect for the lower cylinder class riders.

Making a more subdued start than in the morning session, Carpe focused on his race pace with used tyre and testing out things to get as comfortable as possible on his bike. After a first run, he moved into Time Attack mode, taking a provisional top spot just as he had done earlier in the day. Riding on his own, he placed second in Practice with a best time of 1:41.068, just 0.078s behind the leader of the session. Uriarte used an approach similar to his teammate, prioritising work with his team at the start before an eventual Time Attack. The rookie managed to slot into a fast group and put in a pair of very competitive laps, provisionally situating him eighth. With the final pushes from some of his rivals, Uriarte dropped to tenth place, but made it into Q2 for the third time in his three Grands Prix to date with Red Bull KTM Ajo. He set a best time of 1:41.531, more than a second faster than his morning lap, and just half a second off the fastest time. Uriarte completed 17 laps, one more than his teammate.

After this first Friday of good results, Carpe and Uriarte are now focusing on the second day of the weekend, which will continue tomorrow with Free Practice 2 and Q2. The first session will start at 8:40 a.m. (local time), while the second will begin at 1:10 p.m for both riders, when they will try to secure a good spot on the starting grid.

Practice Results
1. David Almansa (KTM) | 1:40.990
2. Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:41.068 (+0.078)
3. Valentin Perrone (KTM) | 1:41.194 (+0.204)
4. Maximo Quiles (KTM) | 1:41.226 (+0.236)
5. Marco Morelli (KTM) | 1:41.370 (+0.380)
10. Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 1:41.531 (+0.541)

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“We had a good day today, despite the challenging conditions. The track was wet to start with, but we gradually gained confidence by working alone during Practice, which was the important thing. I also went out on used tyres at the beginning to work in preparation for Sunday, and we felt good. This year I’m much more aware of how we have to work, and I think we’ve gotten off to a good start, so we’ll try to continue that tomorrow.”

#51 BRIAN URIARTE

“It’s a good way to start the year, and I’m very happy with this first day in Thailand. I really liked the circuit, but it’s very unforgiving of your mistakes, which forces you to be very focused at all times. The feeling was good, and we also improved a lot from one we gradually gained confidence by working alone during Practice, which was the important thing. I also went out on used tyres at the beginning to work in preparation for Sunday, and we felt good session to the next, so the assessment is positive for now. I need to improve my consistency, so tomorrow we’ll continue gaining experience to improve our base setup. I don’t have to put pressure on myself to be up at the top, but I’ll be pleased with however we do.”